Hiura, Kent and Ruiz fastest in the cold and sometimes wet test.

Three days of testing in Valencia prior to the start of the 4th Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup season gave the teenagers plenty to think about with a variety of cold and wet conditions. By the end of a cold but dry Thursday Japanese 15 year old Daijiro Hiura was fastest ahead of 16 year old Briton Danny Kent and Spaniard Daniel Ruiz who turned 18 on the final day.

Hiura was on the pace all through the test. “It’s been a good three days for me. I was happy on the bike right from the start. I was particularly happy with Tuesday because I got a good feeling for riding in the wet. Last year it was taking me too long to get up to speed in the rain so I am a lot happier after the way Tuesday went. Then for the last day today we hardened up the suspension a bit front and rear and I think we’ve got a good setting. I’m really looking forward to Jerez, it’s a track I enjoy and I think I am ready for it.”

Kent was not to upset to be second, 0.35 behind. He was quick in every session and that was his intention. “That was what I was looking for, I wanted to be consistently fast. That was my goal for each session and it will be my goal for the season, consistency. That is what was missing last year. I knew that Daijiro was likely to put in a quick lap in that last session, it’s what he did at last year’s test.”

Ruiz was enjoying his birthday and 0.52 slower than Hiura. “The race simulation at the end of today was fun. I thought that Daijiro was going to get away, I made a bit of a mistake on the first lap but then I settled in and went quite well, I could keep up OK. We’ve done some good work on the bike through the test, changed the compression damping on the rear and the sliding that I had early on is gone so I think it is working well now. Jerez is my favourite track of the season so I can’t wait for the first race.”

Heading into his second Rookies season 14 year old South African Brad Binder was 4th fastest and quite clear about what was making his life easier. “I’ve grown since last year, I was only 37kg last year, now I’m 50 so I am not carrying any weight penalty and that makes it so much easier for me to ride the bike. I am enjoying it more and really looking forward to the first race.”

Of the newcomers, French 15 year old Alan Techer was the quickest and 7th fastest overall. “I had the chance to spend a day on a KTM before I came here so I had an idea what to expect, it is quite different to the other bikes I have ridden but after 3 days I am very happy with it. We changed the rear suspension slightly on day one but apart from that I have just been riding it and enjoying it. I am very happy and looking forward to the first race, Jerez is a new track for me so I have to learn but I’m happy with the bike already so that’s a great start.”

Another quick newcomer was 13 year old German Florian Alt, 9th overall. “It’s been so much fun but even harder than I expected. We worked a bit on the bike and now I am happy with it and looking forward very much to the first race in Jerez. I have never been there and I know that it will be tough to get into the top 15 but that is what I am aiming for.”

Antonio Chiari, the 14 year old Brazilian, also a newcomer, was right on the pace in 11th and happy with the three days. ‘I’ve been here before but only on a PreGP bike and it is very different. We changed the rear suspension a bit early in the test but really the bike is great, it is me that has to improve. That is what I am thinking about looking forward to Jerez, another track I have ridden on with the PreGP bike, I have to work on my preparation.”

The test opened on Monday with a dry track though the clouds were already threatening. Kent dominated the first day and the Briton ended the four sessions 6 tenths faster than Japan’s Daijiro Hiura with South African Brad Binder 3rd ahead of Spaniard Daniel Ruiz.

The cold track and fresh breeze didn’t catch out many with Mathew Scholtz and Jake Gagne being the only crashers. South African Scholtz escaped with an injured finger in his right hand and could ride in the final session but Gagne was sitting it out with a bandage on his right ankle.

Though not broken, Gagne’s ankle, which had been jammed between the rear wheel and swing arm and bent both when he fall, was swollen so badly that he could not ride again during the test. The fact that it was not broken is testament to the protection provided by the Alpinestars boots that all the Rookies wear.

A cold and wet second day of testing on Tuesday saw no improvement in times of course but Daijiro Hiura headed the timing sheets at the end of 3 Sessions. The Japanese was 3 hundredths faster than Britain’s Danny Kent with South African Mathew Scholtz a further 1.6 seconds adrift in 3rd.

Australia’s Josh Hook was 4th fastest ahead of Spain’s Daniel Ruiz and Italy’s Alejandro Pardo. Quickest of the first year Rookies in the very tricky conditions was fellow Italian Niccolo Antonelli in 7th and 2 places behind was Tomas Vavrous in 9th even though the Czech had a small crash during the day without serious damage to himself or the bike. He headed a group of other newcomers, Alan Techer, Xavier Pinsach and Deni Cudic.

The conditions were treacherous but there were few fallers; though Austrian Cudic managed 2 falls in one lap early in the day. German Phillip Öttl also slid off but there were no injuries.

After the rest day on Wednesday the track was dry for Thursday and again there were few fallers, James Flitcroft, Alejandro Pardo and Taylor Mackenzie being amongst the exceptions but with no injuries.

Racing starts at the Grand Prix in Jerez on May 1st and 2nd and the blow by blow story can be folowed on Twitter once practice gets under way on April 30th.

Overall best times from 3 days

1. Daijiro Hiura (JPN) 1minute 43.903 seconds
2. Danny Kent (GBR) +0.348
3. Daniel Ruiz (ESP) + 0.517
4. Brad Binder (RSA) +0.692
5. Xavier Figueras (ESP) +1.305
6. Harry Stafford (GBR) +1.424
7. Alan Techer (FRA) +1.546
8. Mathew Scholtz (RSA) +1.626
9. Florian Alt (GER) +1.700
10. Alejandro Pardo (ITA) +1.999

World Superbike Championship (SBK) – Round 3, Valencia (Spain),

April 11th, 2010

Circuit: 4,005 kms. Crowd: 48,000 (3-day)
Conditions: Temperature: Air: 19 – 26 °C, Track: 13 – 40 °C.

Race 1 – 23 Laps

(more…)

A return to Europe and Valencia for the third round of the WSB Championship sees Broc Parkes and Makoto Tamada hoping track conditions will mirror those that graced a recent test session. Although Tamada was still recuperating from a big warm-up crash at the previous round in Qatar when the recent Valencia test took place, his team-mate Parkes made steps in the right direction to maximise the race-long abilities of his WSB-Spec Ninja ZX-10R.

Tamada will also benefit from Parkes’testing experiences, of course, despite missing out on useful track time around the 4.005km Spanish circuit. Makoto knows the track layout very well in any case, after many years of MotoGP racing and his ‘rookie’ WSB season in Kawasaki Superbike colours in 2008. Makoto will be out to repeat or better last year’s top ten finish at Valencia, when he was ninth in race one.

The last race at Losail in Qatar marked Broc’s 50th race start in the WSB class, but after spending the last few years in World Supersport this will only be Parkes’ third meeting as a Kawasaki factory Superbike rider.

Once more the official Ninja ZX-10R-mounted pairing face the prospect of the new-for-2009 three stage Superpole qualifying system, making their immediate goal getting into the top 20 after regulation qualifying, then going for final grid placings in three ‘knockout’ sessions from then on. Thanks to a change in the schedule from this weekend onwards, there will be two afternoon track sessions at Valencia on Friday, one free and one timed.

Broc Parkes: “It’s been great to test in Valencia prior to the race next weekend. We’ve tried and tested so many things and had quite a few positive things to report back. The bike should be better over a race distance but we still have a lot of work to do on set-up. I’m getting more and more comfortable on the bike each time I ride it. We are all working hard, the team and myself, and we’re confident that we can aim for some points in the races and being in the top ten would be a bonus.”

Makoto Tamada: “I missed the race at Qatar and also the test last week so I can’t wait to get back on the track at Valencia. My injuries were not as bad as I first suspected. I am recovering every day, and I will be ready and fit for the Valencia race. It is my intention to get points at Valencia, and get back what I missed at Qatar.”

Lascorz Makes Himself At Home

Spaniard Joan Lascorz approaches his home round at Valencia in good spirits for two good reasons, while memories of past Valencia glories will also be a boost for his team-mate Katsuaki Fujiwara. Last year Lascorz scored his first WSS class victory at Valencia, and after a strong showing in recent tests there, on his continually developing 2009 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R, he is once more aiming high at his home race.

For the more experienced Fujiwara, Valencia has also been a successful venue, with a win in 2003 one of a total of four podium finishes taken by the popular Japanese at this tight and challenging 4.005km circuit.

With their new machine still in its early stages of development this year, the official Kawasaki duo were particularly happy to test the latest range of changes and settings on Wednesday and Thursday last week, in particular the new engine specifications arrived at by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and its technical partner, Akira.

Lascorz’s best Valencia testing time improved on last year’s best qualifying pace, while Fujiwara set a time well under his own lap record of 1’37.570, set in the 2007 season. Race simulations during last week’s test also brought about positive results, with each rider consistently inside the 1’37 barrier.

Joan Lascorz: “We tried out a lot of different things during the Valencia test, in the front forks, with the overall chassis geometry and some new engine developments. We still have some work to do but we were able to set fast lap times. We reached a good compromise in our set-up and we were able to try out different tires as well. We went the wrong way with our set-up at Qatar in the last race weekend because we did not have the chance to test this new bike there before practice. Hopefully our Valencia test will allow us to improve this weekend.”

Katsuaki Fujiwara: “We had a chance to use new engine developments and I prefer one spec of engine, Joan the other one, so now we will work out how to maximise the advantages of both. We also tried out some clutch modifications to reduce rear-end chatter and it helped. The most important thing is that our race simulations were fast and consistent, so hopefully we can find the same conditions on raceday. I like Valencia, it suits my riding style, so I hope we can have a really good result there.”

The last pre-season test before the first grand prix in Qatar on 12 April saw both Spanish sunshine and heavy rain showers on the two days of MotoGP action, giving teams the opportunity to test the two compounds of slick tyres that were selected for the test and the single compound of wet tyre in the 2009 specification’s first wet test. Once Saturday’s rain subsided, the Spanish sun dried the track by midday. As per 2009 regulations, Bridgestone brought two slick tyre compounds to Jerez, plus a single wet compound. Front tyres were available in medium and hard compounds, and rear tyres offered in soft and medium compounds. Each rider received four sets of slicks on Saturday, and three sets on Sunday. In addition, each rider received four sets of wet tyres over the two days.

Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo, who completed 25 wet laps, was fastest for Fiat Yamaha on the opening day, just over 0.3 seconds faster than the race lap record as set last year by Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa, who was replaced for this test by Kosuke Akiyoshi as he recovers from a knee injury. Valentino Rossi arrived after the rain to complete a Fiat Yamaha one-two whilst Casey Stoner was third for Ducati, the top three separated by just 0.11 seconds. It was the Australian however who dominated proceedings during Sunday’s 45 minute official practice session. Action was brought to a temporary halt with a short red flag period after James Toseland crashed in turn three, before another downpour cut the session short three minutes from the chequered flag.

Stoner just beat the downpour to consolidate his control of the session, recording his fastest lap on number 12 of 13 to put himself 0.719 seconds clear of Rossi. Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi completed the official test 0.39 seconds further adrift. As free practice resumed, ten riders ventured on track to complete a handful of laps each as the rain lifted and the surface dried, before a final downpour at 1800hrs bode a final farewell to the pre-season testing period.

Hiroshi Yamada – Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager Motorcycle Sport Unit: “As the sole supplier our aim is to make each tyre suitable for a much wider range of conditions than last year, and I think we have seen over the last two days that we have achieved this so I am very pleased with the result of the test. Casey again looks impressive and it is good to see both Suzukis running well, but I am also pleased for Mika Kallio who was sixth fastest in official practice in his rookie season. Now we have finished winter testing and team feedback on our tyres has been good so we are looking forward to a good first race in Qatar in two weeks.”

Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager Motorcycle Race Tyre Development:“We have had all weather conditions this weekend, and it has been the first wet test for the 2009 specification wet tire. The slick tires have been run in cold to reasonably hot conditions this weekend, and both compounds worked well across the range. We have seen that with only two slick compounds and one wet compound offered to each rider our tires can deal with these conditions with a good level of performance that I am very happy with. I’d also like to thank all the teams for their cooperation in our 2010 development program, as we have now finalized our 2010 specification compounds.

This is a video clip of the James Toseland’s nasty crash at the preseason test session at Jerez (GP Zero). In the event that Dorna closes this video down we apologize and offer you this consolation prize.

Just a side note you have to love the kid in the reflection on the tv that he’s taping.

Rossi and Lorenzo second and fourth in Jerez offical practice

The first competitive outing of the year, the Official Practice Session in Jerez today, saw Fiat Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo finish second and fourth after the 45-minute session was interrupted by a red flag before being cut short by rain. In the first ‘qualifying’ session since the single-tire rule came into play the riders were keen to get a feel for the new system and were disappointed not to be able use the session to the full, but both are nonetheless satisfied with the work they’ve done this weekend and are now looking forward to the first race in two weeks time, under the Qatar floodlights. Rossi was third in this morning’s free practice session, continuing to work on fine-tuning the setting of his M1 at this last test before the season. Lorenzo was even faster, finishing the morning second behind Stoner and the pair were looking forward to a competitive showing this afternoon. A crash from James Toseland with 15 minutes to go saw the red flags come out for five minutes and the delay meant the riders were only able to complete a couple of fast laps before the rain came down and spelled an end to the session, with Casey Stoner fastest after a lap of 1’38.646.

Valentino Rossi – Position: 2nd Time: 1′39.365 Laps: 16
“Really I was aiming for second place because I don’t think our sponsor Fiat wanted me to win the prize of a different car! Joking apart though, I am happy enough about this test because yesterday and this morning we worked very well, made some good progress and most importantly we were fast! We have a good setting for the race here and my race pace and speed is good. This afternoon I was quite unlucky because just before the red flag I was on a fast lap and was blocked, then we had the red flag and this meant there wasn’t much time before the rain came at the end. I am not sure I could have beaten Stoner today though; he was faster over one lap than me. It was strange not to have a qualifying tire, the grip is not the same but Bridgestone have done a good job and you can still push so I think it will be possible to have some fun. Now we have finished testing and we’re waiting to go racing; I think we’re in good shape and it will be possible to push from the start.”

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 4th Time: 1′39.829 Laps: 21
“Yesterday was good but today it was a lot colder and I found it harder to be as fast because the conditions were quite different. I think that the qualifying this year is going to be quite hard without the special tires, which always suited my riding style quite well. I was quite a specialist with the qualifying tires and now I don’t have that advantage, so I have to learn to adapt. My riding style is better with the harder Bridgestone tire and so it will be quite difficult for me to be as good in the qualifying sessions this year I think! Today Stoner was so fast with the soft tire and I didn’t have a chance to catch him. Anyway, the important thing is that I have felt really good on both days here, I have been consistently fast and I am definitely prepared to fight for the podium at the first race in Qatar.”

Davide Brivio – Team manager
“It’s been a positive test because we’ve pretty much got through everything we needed to and at the end of the day we’re in good shape and we’ve made further improvements to our bike. Most importantly, Valentino’s race pace is now very good. It was unfortunate not to win the ‘qualifying’ session today because it’s always nice to start the season off on that note but Casey was very strong, so congratulations to him. We’re leaving here happy and satisfied; we have a few small things to work on for Qatar but we’re basically ready to race.”

Daniele Romagnoli -Team Manager
“After yesterday and this morning’s sessions we expected to be closer to the front, but we couldn’t get there today. We used the harder tire that we selected yesterday, with which Jorge had his best performance, but unfortunately the weather was colder today and so the potential for a few fast laps was higher with the softer tire today. Our race pace is good, but obviously we still need to keep working to keep up with Casey, because he is very fast. Next time it will be the real thing in Qatar, where we had a very good test, and we’re confident that Jorge can be at the top.”

Colin Edwards 10th, James Toseland in lucky escape

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 squad ended its 2009 MotoGP pre-season preparations with a day of contrasting fortunes for Colin Edwards and James Toseland in Jerez.

Edwards finished 10th quickest overall, the Texan posting his best time of 1.40.305 in the televised 45-minute BMW shootout that was cut short by heavy rainfall. Edwards was less than 0.2s off a top six finish with his main focus spent working on a front-end setting to help him maximise the potential of the Bridgestone front tire ahead of the first race in Qatar on April 12.

British rider James Toseland had a lucky escape after he suffered a spectacular crash during the timed BMW session. Toseland fell heavily at Turn Three with 16 minutes remaining while he was in 15th position on the timesheets.

The 28-year-old underwent precautionary scans at hospital in Cadiz this afternoon after suffering concussion in the fall, but having been given the all-clear by doctors, Toseland returned to the Jerez paddock later this evening.

He will fly home to the UK tomorrow to rest and recuperate ahead of the season’s opening race under the Losail International Circuit’s floodlights.

Colin Edwards 10th – 1.40.305
“I started the timed session and I knew I could do a low 40 but to do a 39 I just didn’t have the right set-up. The harder I tried to push I seemed to get more chatter and it was a bit of a speed limit. We’ve got a good idea of how to make it better and we are just a little bit too hard on the front fork spring. When I saw Casey do a 39.1 on only his third lap, I knew my package wasn’t ready to do that and I’m not going to take any risks with the first race so close. I’m happy with the way the winter has gone. Yamaha has done a great job and at every test we have been competitive. I can’t wait for the first race to try and get a good start for Monster and Yamaha.”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager
“It was obviously not the way we wanted to finish what has been a very positive winter for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team. Firstly, I’d like to thank the team for all their hard work and effort over the winter. I believe we are in a great position to have our best season for a long time, and with our new partner Monster, the future is looking very bright for Tech 3. Colin has done another excellent job for the team and Yamaha here. He never came here to win the car, but he wanted to get more of an understanding of the new bike and the Bridgestone tires ahead of the first race. I think we can be very optimistic after Colin’s performance during the winter of a very good season. I am obviously delighted that James is going to be fit for the first race after another big crash today. It is a real pity for him because he was really looking like his old self this weekend after the crash in Sepang and making some big progress with the bike and the tires. I’m sure he will be ready and determined to give 100 per cent again in Qatar. All of us can’t wait for the first race.”

Speaking on Toseland’s afternoon fall, Team Principal Herve Poncharal expressed disappointment with the setback.

“Unfortunately it was the same kind of crash today to what he had in Sepang. It hurt him. It was his first timed lap after leaving the pit with a fresh tire. It looks like he should hopefully be ok, even though he was motionless in the gravel for a little while,” said the Frenchman.

“James was recovering well from the Sepang crash; Qatar was a big step in recuperation for him, and until the crash everything was going a lot better for him here. He was in the group in which we think that he can be and making a lot of progress.”

The satellite team made a big impact of a different kind at the 2008 Qatar round of the World Championship, with Toseland and teammate Colin Edwards on the front row. They return to the scene of that glory in a fortnight, but Poncharal has set the bar to a realistic height for his charge.

“Crashing is certainly not the best thing that you can do before starting the first Grand Prix, but we know that James is a fighter. He will be there for the first race and, even though we are not expecting to win, we will try to pick up a few points.”

The IRTA test at Jerez set the scean for the 2009 MotoGP season, here’s a small snapshot(’s) at what it will look like. Looks good to me!

Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi rode to a fantastic third position during today’s Official Practice at the final pre-season test, held at Jerez in Spain.

Capirossi (1′39.757, 15 laps) spent much of this morning’s free practice session getting his Suzuki GSV-R finely tuned for the 4,423m re-surfaced Spanish circuit, in readiness for the timed afternoon shoot-out. He worked hard with his crew to get the best from his bike and reaped the rewards in the qualifying-type session to put his bike up towards the top of the timesheets.

Team-mate Chris Vermeulen was only narrowly behind Capirossi, as he clocked a fastest time of 1′39.848 from his 13 laps. He used a harder compound Bridgestone tire during the timed session to try and replicate the racing conditions he will encounter when the team return for the Jerez GP next month. Vermeulen was pleased with the results and is convinced that this shows the whole team is now capable to challenge this season.

Today’s proceedings were held in very changeable conditions that varied from bright and warm sunshine, through strong winds and finally a heavy rainstorm for the final free practice of the day. Ducati’s Casey Stoner produced the fastest lap in the Official Practice to win a brand new car for his efforts.

Rizla Suzuki now travels to the Middle East for the first round of the 2009 MotoGP World Championship. The season kicks off with the only night race on the calendar, which will be held at Losail in Qatar on Sunday 12th April.

Loris Capirossi:

“I think this has been a very positive day, especially this morning because we found a good setting that made the bike very comfortable for me to ride fast. I worked hard with the whole team and tested many things and I now have a really good feeling – I can say that it is a 100% improvement from last year! In every test we have been competitive and this is very important for us. Today’s third-place was in a 45-minute session, but the good thing is that this was like a qualifying session that we will have in the season and everybody had the same tire so we have got to be pleased with that. The position today is good but we have to continue to work as hard as we have done this year. The Factory has done a really great job in the winter, but we have to continue because our potential is good, but not at the top and we need to be at the top! I want to say a big thanks to the whole crew for the work in testing and especially to Suzuki for the bike they have given us. This is only the beginning really because we need to go well in a race and we don’t care a lot about today’s result as it will be when the racing starts that it matters!”

Chris Vermeulen:

“It was a bit difficult today with the weather changing like it did, but I tried a hard tire – which we will probably use as the race tire here – in this afternoon’s session and I did a run of fast and consistent laps .Then I tried the softer tires and went a bit quicker. I was fairly happy with the lap-time, but it would have been good to have been a couple of places up the board or even a bit closer to Casey’s time. I guess the time between Loris and me proves that the whole Rizla Suzuki team has lifted things and that Suzuki has done a great job in the off-season. It’s the closest we’ve both been to the front in a qualifying session for a long while and hopefully it’s a sign of what will be coming this year – if that’s the case it’s going to be a good year for us!”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:

“Everyone at Rizla Suzuki had hoped that the lack of qualifying tires would help our race potential and looking at today’s result that theory seems to be true. We only kept back two new tires for both of our guys because we’d planned a full test programme – including a long run – after the timed session and I think maybe some of our competitors used more than that. Nonetheless, we can be satisfied that we are continuing to show good potential and that both Loris and Chris are evenly matched. The confidence of both riders is increasing all the time and our target has always been to keep improving and we will try to keep doing that. We are all now looking forward to racing and trying to replicate the pre-season performances where it really matters!”

Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen continued with his strong run of pre-season form during the first day of the Official IRTA Test at Jerez in Spain

Most of the morning was lost to a heavy downpour, but as soon as the track began to dry Vermeulen put in consistently quick laps to move up the leader-board. He posted a fastest time of 1′40.572 during his 70 laps, and using the information gained from the two previous tests this year he recorded a time over half-of-a-second quicker than his fastest lap during last year’s Grand Prix at Jerez.

Loris Capirossi also had a good day as he recorded the sixth fastest time from his 64 laps. He too benefitted from the improvements to the ever-evolving GSV-R, as he posted a time of 1′40.650. The Suzuki Factory has made a number of changes to the 2009 Suzuki GSV-R for the final test, which again seemed to suit both Capirossi and Vermeulen over the 4,423m long Spanish circuit.

Today also saw the first view of the 2009 Suzuki GSV-R prototype MotoGP machine in the now familiar Rizla Blue. The latest incarnation of Suzuki’s premier racing machine broke cover during an early morning presentation to waiting journalists, with Vermeulen and Capirossi on-hand in their new leathers to pose for photographs.

Tomorrow will see the final day of testing in readiness for the new season and the added attraction of a 45-minute televised timed session in the afternoon will give all riders some competitive action, as they battle it out to win a brand-new car for the fastest time.

Chris Vermeulen:

“It’s been good to come back to a track like Jerez because it is very different to Malaysia and Qatar where we have already tested this year. We didn’t come to the test here last year – like the other teams did – and for us to get mostly a dry day today was very important and it has proved that the new bike has definitely taken a step forward at all kinds of circuits. We’ve have been consistently fast more than we were last year and the bike feels a lot easier to ride. We had a good day today and tried a lot of parts and found a good base setting for this track. We still have a bit of work to do to catch the front guys – who did some very fast times today. My guys will look at today’s data and hopefully make the necessary improvements to make sure I can challenge for that new car in the afternoon!”

Loris Capirossi:

“It has been a positive day today and we spent a lot of time working on detailed settings. Stuart is a great Crew Chief and we tried so many things today to get the best feel, and I only used two sets of tyres all day to find the best settings for the bike on old tyres. We tried many things to find the best solution for tomorrow and I think that we are close and can concentrate just on lap-times tomorrow. I am happy with the progress and the bike is still as competitive as it was in the first test and we are pleased with where we are at the moment.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:

“Given that the weather was so bad when we arrived at the circuit this morning we have been very happy to have achieved as much work as we have and we are pleased to have run quite competitively with both riders. It has been a day of checking and confirming the changes and the developments that have been made at the other circuits, and whilst we weren’t quite as quick as we were at Sepang at the end of January, the potential still looks very promising. The gap to the front three riders doesn’t look so big on paper but at Jerez it’s quite a lot to find. We will be looking to get the most out of the bike overnight so that the riders have the confidence to move their own performance levels to the maximum tomorrow.”